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escape artist posted:Yeah, I didn't even bother to watch them when I had HBO. I only saw them recently on Youtube. I always figured young Prop Joe was like Randy.
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Apr 29, 2013 13:20
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Protocol 5 posted:I always figured young Prop Joe was like Randy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9eVsUgKczE Prop Joe could handle his bullies.
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Apr 29, 2013 17:52
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Wow, that is really stupid. It's almost like "Young Wire" or "Baltimore Babies" or something. The dialogue is so awkward coming out of that kid's mouth. I'm very glad there hasn't been any attempt to extend the Wire 'brand'.
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Apr 30, 2013 02:02
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Starting to watch S2E06 ahead of time. First scene, Omar helps the cop with the crossword clue about the god of war. Ares, not Mars. "Same dude, different name." I wonder what second meaning of this is. Probably the same point he's making at Levy next scene--that he's a gangster with a briefcase or somesuch. EDIT: I got confused. That scene with Levy does not directly follow. Not even sure if it's in this episode. Mescal fucked around with this message at 04:55 on Apr 30, 2013 |
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Apr 30, 2013 04:52
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Mescal posted:Starting to watch S2E06 ahead of time. First scene, Omar helps the cop with the crossword clue about the god of war. Ares, not Mars. "Same dude, different name." I wonder what second meaning of this is. Probably the same point he's making at Levy next scene--that he's a gangster with a briefcase or somesuch. It could have some sort of symbolism but I just figured it was showing that there was a time when Omar was just a smart little kid who liked mythology in school.
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Apr 30, 2013 05:42
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It also reinforces The Wire's heavy inspiration from the Greek Tragedies. Same poo poo, different name 
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Apr 30, 2013 09:51
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Maybe it also has something to do with the game? I mean, look at the season 5 ending montage, how is that anything but "same dude, different name"?
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Apr 30, 2013 11:55
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Orange Devil posted:Maybe it also has something to do with the game? I mean, look at the season 5 ending montage, how is that anything but "same dude, different name"? It's probably stretching things way too much, but there's also the dealers in the Towers making "competing" products that are just the same thing repackaged to appeal to people unsatisfied with the original. I'll get a new write-up done in the next day or so, the next episode is All Prologue which is a pretty amazing episode, if only for Bird's trial.
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Apr 30, 2013 13:32
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Jerusalem posted:It's probably stretching things way too much, but there's also the dealers in the Towers making "competing" products that are just the same thing repackaged to appeal to people unsatisfied with the original. "I got the shotgun, you got the briefcase" 
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Apr 30, 2013 13:43
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Edgar Death posted:It could have some sort of symbolism but I just figured it was showing that there was a time when Omar was just a smart little kid who liked mythology in school. Somewhere Simon talked about how this scene is a reference to how kids, even (especially?) kids from disadvantaged areas that normally don't care about such things, are interested in mythology. And from my experience as a teacher, in a place that maybe wasn't Baltimore but was certainly disadvantaged, was that this is absolutely true. Kids that don't give two fucks about school will perk up and get engaged when you're talking about Ares, Hercules, Aphrodite, and the Odyssey. They like it, and they "get" it. It's an interesting phenomenon that's woefully under-addressed in the literature. It's very  when the 2 weeks you spend discussing the only things they are really interested in are over and it's time to go back to dragging/pushing them through something that's totally uninteresting and irrelevant to them like "The Scarlet Ibis" and you have to watch their eyes glaze back over. Especially since, if the people that set the standards actually cared about educating kids, instead of just testing them, they'd realize that a firm grounding in classical myth is absolutely vital for engaging western literature, but you can safely ignore say, O. Henry, or whatever 2nd-rate authors they use to pad high school English textbooks. But people that care about literature and learning don't get into those meetings.Sorry for the rant, but it's something personally important to me, and this scene always makes me want to take Omar to the library, find a study room, and talk about mythology with him and the kids from season 4. It's very sad, what might have been.
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Apr 30, 2013 15:51
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Sharkie posted:Somewhere Simon talked about how this scene is a reference to how kids, even (especially?) kids from disadvantaged areas that normally don't care about such things, are interested in mythology. And from my experience as a teacher, in a place that maybe wasn't Baltimore but was certainly disadvantaged, was that this is absolutely true. Kids that don't give two fucks about school will perk up and get engaged when you're talking about Ares, Hercules, Aphrodite, and the Odyssey. They like it, and they "get" it. It's an interesting phenomenon that's woefully under-addressed in the literature. This comes up a bit in Sol Yurick's The Warriors. The entire story is a retelling of the Anabasis, with the Coney Island Dominators taking the place of the returning Greek soldiers. Throughout, one of the kids is reading a comic book adaptation of the story. Yurick doesn't even have to stretch much to make the parallels work. He was a social investigator for the Welfare department, too, so he's not just talking out of his rear end with his depictions of how brutal life is for these kids. You may have seen the film, which is way more cartoony, but the book is dead serious. It's definitely a product of its time (was written in 1965), but it's a quick read and worth it for the portrayal of gang culture, which honestly doesn't seem to have changed very much. The fashions are different, but the anger is the same.
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Apr 30, 2013 16:06
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Spoilers Below posted:You may have seen the film, which is way more cartoony, but the book is dead serious. It's definitely a product of its time (was written in 1965), but it's a quick read and worth it for the portrayal of gang culture, which honestly doesn't seem to have changed very much. The fashions are different, but the anger is the same. That and it gave us this gem https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRM2YcGpmxg
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Apr 30, 2013 19:30
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Sharkie posted:Sorry for the rant, but it's something personally important to me, and this scene always makes me want to take Omar to the library, find a study room, and talk about mythology with him and the kids from season 4. It's very sad, what might have been. So it seems you're a teacher/some kind of educator, and I'd be fascinated to hear what you felt about season 4 and their take on education if you wouldn't mind. I know Ed Burns had actual experience working as a schoolteacher, but how accurate (or not) was the whole thing to you, and even where it wasn't, did it still ring true?
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Apr 30, 2013 23:01
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the black husserl posted:Wow, that is really stupid. It's almost like "Young Wire" or "Baltimore Babies" or something. The dialogue is so awkward coming out of that kid's mouth. Theres one for Omar that's just as terrible and ham-fisted. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RkcjjY_a0Y
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Apr 30, 2013 23:21
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Jerusalem posted:So it seems you're a teacher/some kind of educator, and I'd be fascinated to hear what you felt about season 4 and their take on education if you wouldn't mind. I know Ed Burns had actual experience working as a schoolteacher, but how accurate (or not) was the whole thing to you, and even where it wasn't, did it still ring true? Where are you from Jerusalem? If it's Israel, I feel like an idiot for asking. I know you're not in the U.S. But the whole "teaching to the test" thing permeates all of American public schools. It drives teachers loving crazy. I took phys ed, one of my last requirements, my senior year of high school. I was in class of mostly freshmen. I had already taken and passed "the test" the previous year, but each Wednesday, we had to sit inside, and in loving P.E., do reading comprehension for the test.
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Apr 30, 2013 23:47
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escape artist posted:Where are you from Jerusalem? If it's Israel, I feel like an idiot for asking. I know you're not in the U.S. "The test" was the biggest loving joke to a lot of students taking higher level classes when I went to high school. I remember sitting in a statistics class and having to take some algebra exam for the state because the school needed their funding. So many kids just drew things with the bubbling sheets and the teachers were well aware of it, they couldn't do anything, it's almost embarrassing to be given something so simple when you're well beyond the standards they're trying to test you for. The worst part was how they'd pad out the exam weeks for every single kid to be able to finish, you had to find some way to spend your time between morning and lunch hour because the exams were not anything that required 4 hours to work through. Even our teachers grew tired of it because it disrupted their curriculum, some nosey district worker had to come by and supervise the class or something. tl;dr: Being tested on some irrelevant standard and learning nothing while being lied to that it's important is the biggest joke and everyone hated it, including the teachers. edit: Oh and you better not be late to class or miss a day, they would hunt you down and make you take the test during lunch hours or other downtime.
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May 1, 2013 00:19
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Yeah, people who missed the test had to make up for it otherwise they wouldn't be allowed to graduate. I remember they introduced a "science" portion of the test during my senior year. It was not mandatory, because it was still in a trial period, so I just stayed home and did coke until my AP Lit class. My teacher from that class, is now a good friend of mine. She still bitches to me about having to teach the test.
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May 1, 2013 00:35
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I'm not from America (though of course your pop culture looms large over everything) so every so often I'll be left utterly confused when I realize some basic fact of life for Americans that feels completely alien to me - I had no idea that paid annual leave from work each year is the exception rather than the rule; quite honestly refused to believe that you didn't already have universal healthcare; and most recently in the Hannibal thread I was very confused by the fact that the lead character (who is explicitly NOT an FBI agent) had a gun until people casually mentioned it was just his own personal gun that he has for himself. It's really fascinating watching The Wire from an outside perspective, I learned a lot about the way institutions in America work (or don't) and how many of the proud political achievements loudly trumpeted (no child left behind! the war on drugs! etc) were utterly empty, hollow things that in many cases completely destroyed the people they were meant to save.
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May 1, 2013 00:36
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Jerusalem posted:quite honestly refused to believe that you didn't already have universal healthcare; It's true!! I have needed titanium rods implanted in my back, on each side of my spine, for 7 years now, but hey, I don't have $100,000 so, I'm just going to be crippled for the rest of my life, and I'm only 26.
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May 1, 2013 00:38
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EvilTobaccoExec posted:Theres one for Omar that's just as terrible and ham-fisted. My god, it's horrible. It's scary to think that the Wire could have turned out like this.
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May 1, 2013 01:56
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They made three, total. At least this one is good: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uzbmCWGHF8 edit: Lieutenant Rawls! escape artist fucked around with this message at 02:07 on May 1, 2013 |
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May 1, 2013 01:58
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Hm, the way I had this visualized was a young mcnulty and a young buck, like 12 years old. Hahahahaha, drat.
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May 1, 2013 05:26
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Episode 6: All PrologueD'Angelo Barksdale posted:It don't matter that some fool say he different... Omar sits waiting at the Courthouse to be called to testify, watching the security guard across from him struggling with his crossword. Casually making conversation, Omar asks if he is having trouble and the guard - an older, portly white man - says the clue is the Greek God of War, but Mars isn't fitting in. Omar corrects him, Ares is the Greek God of War, though he and Mars are the same person, just under different names. The guard is pleased to see it fits and thanks Omar, who appreciates it, explaining that in Middle School he enjoyed learning about mythology, finding it "deep". Another guard arrives to tell Omar it's his time to testify, and he pulls a large white tie out of his pocket and casually winds it around his neck, amusing the older guard. There has been a little discussion about the significance of the Mars/Ares bith just recently, with people bringing up the Barksdales changing up the name of their drugs, the comparison Omar later makes between himself and Levy, as well as the fact that many schoolkids who are uninvested in schooling light up and eagerly take part when learning about mythology. There's no reason it can't be all of those things (and more), as well as just informing us a little more about Omar's past and the fact that he's intelligent. Inside the courtroom, Omar cocks a finger-gun at Stringer and Shamrock sitting in the court ("human being," whispers Stringer) and waggles his horrible tie at a long-suffering Ilene Nathan before taking the stand. Bird looks bored and grumpy at the Defense table alongside Levy, and the Judge (Phelan, who kicked of all these events in season one) seems surprised at Omar's appearance. Nathan attempts to get ahead of the eight-ball as quickly as possible and take away some of Levy's ammunition, so she quickly establishes that Omar is of no fixed address (in the wind, not homeless, he suggests), that he isn't even sure how old he is (about 29? he surmises) and that he makes his living by "rip'n'run mostly" - in other words, he robs drug dealers. Levy isn't pleased to see a number of the members of the jury laughing at this statement, enjoying Omar's complete transparency and taken in by his charisma. Omar has been robbing drug dealers for about 8 or 9 years, he guesses, and when Nathan asks just how he survives such a dangerous "occupation" he grins and says,"Day at a time, I suppose!"   At the Major Detail, Daniels has gathered all his troops around including Beadie, to discuss what they've put together so far on Frank Sobotka. This is a well-oiled, functioning Detail now, exactly what Valchek was hoping for. Freamon and Prez have gone over Frank's finances and found he isn't sitting on an unexplainable amount of money in savings or assets - he has the house and the truck and that's it. The money isn't being filtered through the Unions either, they've looked through their books and found little money and less than 100 dues-paying members, and Beadie notes that at their height in the 1970s they had over 300 members. Daniels is surprised that Freamon and Prez have subpoenaed the Union's books, but they correct him - they didn't need to. Thanks to a racketeering case in New York five years earlier, Unions MUST have their books open to inspection at all times. All they had to do was phone up the Federal Authorities and ask for a copy of the IBS books to be sent over and they were there within a day. This comes as a surprise to Daniels, and goes to show just how the might of the Unions has declined over time, which isn't necessarily a good thing. Yes there have been corrupt Unions, crime and theft and even murders but who else looks out for the working man? In most cases the answer is nobody, and certainly not their employers. The seniority system has been talked about a bit on the show, but think about all those older workers who would have been thrown on the scrapheap at 40 or 50 years old after a lifetime of service if there wasn't a Union system in place to make sure people aren't just discarded for a younger worker willing to work for less. Anyway, I digress - the fact is that Frank and the Union aren't showing any money, so what is Valchek going on about? Freamon and Prez have found something there, however - the Union has hired the very expensive lobbyist Bruce DiBiago, and by checking campaign finance reports they've discovered at LEAST 70k has been paid out to various politicians through various PACs on behalf of members of the Union, and who knows how much more is going through from other, seemingly unconnected names? So where is the money coming from? Drugs? Kima, Greggs and Carver have been working that angle and they've covered a lot of ground, but any port connections they've found have seemed random and not signifying anything deeper - just people getting high. Beadie - who is there along with the currently absent Bunk (at court for the Gant trial) to share common information in their own investigation - comes up with a clever suggestion however. Maybe the Union is getting money because of the Checkers themselves? Or rather, what they do - they're the ones who bring things in and out of the docks... like the shipping can of dead women. Are they bringing in the drugs? Maybe, or maybe they're the ones who are allowing those drugs to be brought in, along with other things. It's a direction that the Detail can happily take, and Daniels clearly already had a plan in mind as he announces that Greggs (who is delighted) and Prez (who is mortified) will be investigating strippers/dancers/prostitutes at local clubs to get what information they can on who is running them. This means Herc and Carver will continue the drugs angle together (they're pumped up for it) while Freamon stays on the financial side of things. After ascertaining that everybody knows what they're going, Daniels dismisses them and everybody is up and moving immediately, work to do and tasks to undertake. Herc pauses momentarily though, throughout the entire briefing he's been oddly quiet and keenly observant of Beadie, and now he takes his chance to approach her. Extending a hand and introducing himself as Thomas, he asks if she'd like to get a coffee with him. Beadie motions to the mug of coffee she's currently drinking and Herc backs off, only to be mocked gleefully by Carver who imitates his request for a handshake. Herc cooly explains that he was going to ask Beadie for her panties to make soup with but thought she might take it the wrong way, then leaves, with Carver left behind making an amazing  face.McNulty arrives at the court and settles himself behind Stringer Bell, who is unaware he is there. Omar is testifying about his presence at the Gant shooting, and identifies Bird as the shooter by shouting out a happy hello to the fuming defendant. Behind the humor is a hardness though, as he explains to Ilene that he's always just known Marquis Hilton as Bird, he's boring holes into Bird with his eyes - this is one of the guys who tortured and murdered his lover, and this is his revenge. When he tells Ilene that he and Bird were in the same prison together Levy asks to approach the bench, and as they approach McNulty takes the opportunity to lean forward and gloat some to Stringer, asking what he thinks of Omar as a witness. Stringer looks like he can barely tolerate having to acknowledge McNulty, quietly telling him that word on the street is that Omar was sticking up an East Side dealer when Gant was killed. McNulty is bemused, smugly reminding Stringer that they're not on the street right now, they're in Court. He won't get a rise from Stringer, who is too smart for that type of thing, but the same can't be said for Bird when it comes to Omar. Levy is sent back unsatisfied, Phelan telling the jury to disregard what Omar said about where he met Bird. Ilene continues, asking Omar to confirm once more that he knows Bird, and Omar does so, though he points out they weren't friends. She shows Omar the gun in evidence and he identifies it immediately as Bird's gun, saying he'd seen Bird with it even before the murder, punning that "Bird" covets shiny things. Levy objects but Omar can see Bird's seething rage close to boiling over and pushes further, taunting Bird by saying he's too trifling to get rid of the gun even after a daytime murder, and Bird has had enough. Leaping to his feet and trying to launch himself over the table at Omar, he screams that Omar is a lying cocksucker, physically restrained by the bailiffs as Levy's heart sinks, knowing how Bird has just made himself look in the eyes of the jury. Omar just beams from the witness stand, enjoying his revenge.   Nick arrives at Big Johnny's diner where Spiros is waiting, and meets a new associate named Eton. Nick assumes he's Greek but Spiros corrects him, Eton is an Israeli, which surprises and impresses Nick who probably considers an Israeli (as opposed to an American Jew) incredibly exotic. He tells Eton he looks Greek and then notes no offense, then realizes how offensive this might sound to Spiros and explains he meant to offense to either of them. Nick is odd today, more open and friendly than usual, talking more than he usually does. The reason why quickly becomes clear, after he brings up that he can get them as much of the chemicals as they wanted, he notes that he was going to do it for them this week but a problem has come up. Nick has come looking for a favor, and is clearly extremely nervous about how to go about it. He explains the problem is with Ziggy (Spiros is not surprised), who has gotten on the wrong side of an East Side drug-dealer named Cheese who is now threatening to kill him. Speaking a different language (presumably Greek), Spiros comments on Ziggy to Eton and Nick clearly picks up on the meaning of at least one of the words, and is quick to agree that Ziggy is stupid, it's his own fault for loving up the package. Spiros, who both likes Nick and has carefully been grooming him as another of his many associates, shrugs and says they'll simply kill Cheese, but a surprised Nick quickly puts the nix on that, explaining that this will leave Cheese's people angry and wanting vengeance, and one day in the future Ziggy will be shot out of nowhere by somebody looking for payback. Spiros is pleased at Nick's assessment, telling Eton that Nick is smart, and offers to pay Ziggy's debts and take it out of the fee for the chemicals, but Nick disagrees. Cheese wronged Ziggy by taking/destroying his car and now he's demanding twice what Ziggy owes, and as far as Nick is concerned that is wrong. He has no problem with paying back the $2700, that's money that Ziggy OWES to Cheese because he hosed things up in the first place, but Cheese is going about collecting it the "wrong" way in his mind. The trouble is he doesn't have the muscle to approach Cheese and make him see reason, and he's hoping that Spiros does. Back in the courtroom, Levy is attemping to fix the damage Bird has done by destroying Omar's credibility as a witness. This is what Ilene Nathan has been fearing, Levy is a smooth (if sleazy) operator and well-versed in turning the minds of the jury. What Levy hasn't taken into account, however, is that Omar is neither naive or ignorant like many of those from the street he deals with on a daily basis. His first attempt to call Omar's motivation into question goes nowhere when he suggests Omar is testifying as part of a plea because he was arrested and Omar smoothly dismisses the claim. Next, Levy reads out the laundry list of Omar's prior arrests, but Omar has made no attempt to cover them up and seems untroubled to hear them read out - most to do with carrying a weapon or committing robbery. His only reaction is to the final charge of Attempted Murder, and he corrects that immediately, saying it wasn't attempted murder. Levy sense blood and moves in for the kill, asking Omar to clarify (and skewer his credibility by trying to wriggle out from under) but is left shocked by Omar's reply. It wasn't Attempted Murder because Omar deliberately shot a dealer called Mike-Mike in "the hindquarters" so he wouldn't be able to sit right. The Jury bursts out laughing, much to Levy's horror, and even Judge Phelan is chuckling from up on high. Levy demands to know why Omar shot Mike-Mike and Omar openly admits that they had a difference of opinion - Mike-Mike thought he should keep the cocaine he was slinging and the money he was making, and Omar disagreed. Delighted, Levy presses for advantage, smugly reminding the jury that Omar stalks the streets of Baltimore with a gun, taking whatever he wants whenever he wants it, and using violence when he doesn't get what he wants. Standing by the jury to make them feel personally connected, he points over at Omar (making him seem far away/disconnected) and says this is who Omar is, and Omar nods happily in reply. But, says Levy, if this is who Omar is, then why should anybody believe anything he has to say? If he hasn't worked out a deal with the police, then he's claiming that he's just there to tell the truth... but by his own testimony he is just the type of person who would himself shoot a man on a housing project, like he is accusing Bird. For the first time Omar loses his temper, but his anger is cold. He bites back that he'd never target a civilian under any circumstances, and Levy launches into moral indignation - Omar is amoral, feeding off of the violence and despair of the drug trade, stealing from those who are themselves stealing from the lifeblood of "our" city, he is a parasite! A leech wh-" "Just like you, man" interrupts Omar.  Enjoy this shot, it's one of only two times in the entire series that we see Levy with ruffled feathers. Levy's grandstanding speech is halted by those four little words, twisting about with eyes bugging out, Levy demands Omar to explain, and Omar calmly contrasts the two of them,"I've got the shotgun, you've got the briefcase.... it's all in the game though, right?" Levy is left stunned, turning to gape at Judge Phelan who simply shrugs in amusement, while the jury and the rest of the courtroom burst into excited whispers. Regardless of whether it is true or not, Omar has just made Levy look like the very thing he was passionately accusing Omar of being, and made Levy's every word/motivation suspect in their eyes. Elena McNulty is discussing potential sites for a potential homebuying couple, but finds herself distracted when a bouyant McNulty arrives at her real estate office and begins groping a mannequin in the window. Unable to concentrate on the couple in front of her and trying to stifle her laughter, she eventually moves them on and affectionately whacks McNulty and re-dresses the mannequin. McNulty, in a tremendously good mood from the way Bird's trial is going, tries his luck and tells Elena he wants to take her out for dinner and a movie. She dismisses the suggestion as a joke but he insists, reminding her that he signed the papers like she wanted and this means he should get another chance (McNulty logic is the best logic) - he can take her to a movie, walk her home and she can shake his hand and tell him to gently caress off like she should have all those years ago. She retorts she can tell him to gently caress himself now and save him the money, but he asks again and she capitulates, they can go to a movie this Friday but HE has to pay for the sitter. Beaming in delight, McNulty exits the store with a bounce in his step, the camera staying on the mannequin. Why? Does it represent the idealized image he has of his wife/what could be? Stringer, who left the courtroom after Bird's outburst (he can see the writing on the wall) meets with a stranger in a blue tracksuit in his car. The stranger is Leech, who has come up all the way from Washington D.C. to collect a large amount of money from Stringer. Stringer has hired him to do something that cannot be traced back to Stringer in any way, whoever Leech will be using for the task will need to supply themselves. They casually talk about the music scene in D.C. and Leech tells Stringer he won't appreciate Go-Go until he's seen it live, then heads back to his car, presumably to make his return to D.C. Greggs meets with Shardene at what is presumably Freamon's home (and it's a drat nice home!), and the two share pleasantries before getting down to business. Shardene looks far happier than she ever was with D'Angelo, telling Greggs that she's currently attending Nursing School, having been pushed in that direction by Freamon without really realizing he was doing it. Shardene was always worried about what she would do when her looks faded/her body was no longer young and desirable, but the woman talking to Greggs now is confident, poised and content even if there is an underlying, unsettling element that she needed a man to tell her what to do. In any case, Greggs is there to see if Shardene can aim her in the right direction to find clubs that make use of foreign/Eastern European girls as dancers (or more). Shardene - who dodged a bullet getting out of Orlando's when she did - can think of a place immediately, a friend of hers worked at a club called Night Shift that brought in foreign girls for a few months. Will she talk to Greggs? Shardene smiles and says that she will if Shardene asks her to. Back in the Courtroom, Bunk has finished giving his testimony and there is nothing left for Nathan to present, so Phelan calls for a 10 minute break before closing statements - he wants to start tomorrow morning giving out Jury instructions. McNulty approaches Nathan to ask how Omar did on cross-examination from Levy, and is worried at the look she gives him, asking if it was that bad? In reply, she motions him to look at Levy, who is angrily slapping his files down and snapping his briefcase shut, wanting to get the hell out of there and away from this nightmare of a case. It's a beautiful thing. Nick sits in the back of Sergei's car and watches as Sergei and his crew approach Cheese and his crew to have a pleasant little chat. He can't hear what is being said, but Sergei is calm and collected while Cheese seems relaxed and dismissive. Things start to get heated and suddenly Sergei's gun is out and pressed to Cheese's head, everybody else pulling out weapons and holding them on each other... but Cheese and Sergei continue to talk even with the guns out. Finally, as Nick watches wide-eyed from the shadows of the backseat, Sergei puts the gun away and amazingly shakes Cheese's hand before walking away. He and his crew get into the car, Nick spotting the uzis they're holding (an Israeli invention) where Sergei calmly tells Nick there is no more problem. At first Cheese wanted $5400, then he decided that Ziggy only owed $2700, and then Sergei explained that actually Cheese owed Ziggy money! He has to pay back the cost of the destroyed car, and a pleased Sergei explains that "we" do not know Cheese, but they do know Cheese's Boss.   Cheryl wasn't pleased about Kima going back to street work as police, she sure as hell isn't happy about Kima going to a titty-bar even if it is supposedly for work-related purposes. Greggs tries to talk sense, surely she doesn't believe that Kima is just going to the club to look at pussy? Cheryl complains about most of the women at the bars being "dykes" but is even angrier when Greggs says it is just police work. Laying on the guilt (justifiably) she reminds Kima of the massive toll the shooting took on both of them, including all the long months of rehab to get Kima back up and around again. Kima reminds her they talked about this but Cheryl snaps angrily that Kima talked about it, Cheryl didn't get a word in edgewise once she'd made up her mind. Of course you could make this same argument back at Cheryl in regards to her desire to get pregnant, but people are always quick to believe their partner has accepted their argument when it is something that THEY desperately want. Kima doesn't know how to reply, but she's going whether Cheryl likes it or not. She gets her keys, and is surprised to see Cheryl get up and grab her own coat - where is she going? Cheryl declares she is going with Kima, and snaps that maybe she'll see a little something that SHE likes. At a Union Hall meeting, Frank Sobotka is enjoying delivering some good news for a change. Thanks to their lobbying efforts and political contributions, they have managed to get politicians/legislators behind their push to reopen the grain pier. Frank is still pushing for the canal to be dredged as well, but admits that is a big battle requiring a lot more work/money, and while he'll continue to push for it, right now the focus needs to be on the grain pier. Nat Coxson isn't so much a dissenting voice as a practical one, but Frank has clear and precise answers to every issue raised, and when another checker asks where the money for all this came from, Frank immediately cracks a joke that he's been robbing 2 liquor stores a week to fund it. Everyone bursts out laughing but the old checker really wants to know, and a serious Frank explains that the National Office threw in a little cash and they've had timely donations to help them out as well. Nat, whose passion has been for the Grain Pier, is quick to fire up the other checkers after Frank reminds them that this could lead to another 200 ships through the docks a year. He reminds them all that money only gets them so far, he's an old school Union organizer who believes in collective action, and tells them to work the phones and make sure the legislators know they want this and they're watching them carefully to make sure they get the votes - because there is a very real threat (Frank agrees) that developer Andy Krawczyk could back-door them by lobbying his own political connections to give him the grain pier to develop into condos (as we've already seen he plans to do with his "The Grainery" apartment block. Frank ends the meeting on a high note, telling those working ships tomorrow to get to bed and those not to go and get drunk, but as everybody spills out in a happy mood, Nat approaches and makes it clear he doesn't believe the sources of Frank's money at all, and warns him to be careful.  
Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 22:26 on May 1, 2013 |
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At the Detail office, Daniels, Beadie, Bunk and Freamon are gathered around a computer monitor watching the graphical database sent over showing the Port's unloading of the Atlantic Light. With everything recorded electronically, they've able to watch each can as it is removed from the ship, put on a chassis and then driven away by a truck to wherever its destination may be. The trouble is, the can with the dead women in it is lowered onto a chassis and then promptly disappears. Bunk explains that Frank told them this happens due to radio interference or a checker inputting a bad code, but Bunk doesn't believe it. According to the database, the Atlantic Light can disappeared from the system when it was taken from the ship and only reappeared when it was found in the stacks 4 hours later, and it was another 2 hours before Beadie spotted the broken customs seal. So what can they do now? The only thing they can do is go through the system and try to find the other times a can disappeared, and see if they can spot a pattern. Daniels asks how many ships they're talking about here and Freamon tells him with a wince it's hundreds, Bunk saying he doesn't have any hope in hell of solving the case otherwise. At Night Shift, Kima is enjoying pretending to be drooling over the strippers, but Cheryl isn't buying it. Prez is incredibly uncomfortable though, telling Kima and Cheryl he can't look at any of the women. Why not? Has he never been to a titty-bar before? asks Greggs, and Prez admits he has.... he's just never gone to one with women. Backstage, Kima asks Shardene's friend - she has no name that I can find - if she'll get into trouble for talking to them, but she's indifferent to the problem. She tells them she was there before the imported dancers and will be there when they're gone, so the owners have to keep her happy. She doesn't know much, however, just that the girls were foreign (were they Russian? Maybe, it was a language she didn't understand is all she knows) but she does know that they were run by another woman, one with another strange accent. The owners paid extra to bring them in and they made a huge amount of money from them, so much that they actually started letting some of the regular dancers go - though Shardene's friend was immune thanks to her regular clientele. Prez, desperately looking anywhere other than at the half-naked woman casually getting dressed in front of him - asks where they stayed. It's not a pretty story, they were constantly under escort by men who went everywhere with them, they were even directly outside the door when the women were in motel rooms with their johns. If they ever noticed one of them getting closer to a john the entire group was up and moved to a different club/town, they were kept completely separate and not given any chance to form bonds/relationships with anything on the outside. They were prisoners, slaves probably a better word, and though she never saw one make a run for it, Shardene's friend does tell them that one of them was tazered just for going down the road to get dinner once. She gets the call to get out and perform and says her goodbyes, pleased that Shardene has been out for so long and asking if she "landed a rich one". Spotting Cheryl's frown, she asks if she is Kima' girl, and when Cheryl grumpily confirms it, she tells her that she wouldn't let her girlfriend in a club like this unescorted over... "these bitches in here are no joke!" She leaves the room, passing a still desperately uncomfortable Prez. In prison, D'Angelo is beaming down at a photo of his son Tyrell (the one he had no time for when he was free). Closing his door, he gets at his stash of drugs and empties them out into the toilet, flushing them down. He actually seems to be at peace for the moment, having come to a decision. Freamon is beginning the long process of working out the pattern of smuggling at the docks, going through the print-outs and tagging interesting looking entries while Beadie yawns at another computer. Kima takes Cheryl to the docks and shows her the shipping cans piled up, and describes the space and conditions that the dead women had to endure before dying. Is she letting Cheryl know the importance of the case to show her how necessary her job is? Does she feel a genuine pity for the women after learning about the horrible lives that those who live still have to experience? Is it just selfish justification or authentic sympathy? The next morning, Judge Phelan enjoys a rare experience as he sets a sentencing date, the verdict having come back guilty in the trial of Marquis "Bird" Hilton. Levy asks the Judge to set an appeal bond so that Bird can fully participate in his appeal process, claiming that despite the guilty verdict his client is the victim of the State's key witness' perjury. With uncharacteristic bluntness, Phelan shuts down Levy immediately, and with venomous glee explains that the pre-sentencing report will be a mere formality. As far as he is concerned, Bird - having been found guilty of the cold-blooded murder of a State's Witness who testified in that very courtroom - will face life without the possibility of parole, and the only way this WON'T happen is if the report somehow discovers that Bird is the Messiah. Reveling in getting to go home this evening feeling like being a Judge actually matters, Phelan goes so far as to ask Bird if he IS the second coming of the Messiah, confused Bird who says,"Excuse me?" "ARE YOU JESUS CHRIST COME BACK TO EARTH!?!" demands Phelan, and all Bird can manage by way of reply is,"...uhhhhh?" Phelan bangs his gavel and dismisses the court, and Levy instantly walks away leaving a completely perplexed Bird to be taken away by the MASSIVE bailiff. Outside the courtroom, Ilene Nathan is glowing, asking Bunk and McNulty if it was good for them too. She happily offers Omar her card, telling him it's good for one get-out-of-jail free card for anything up to aggravated assault, and heads away with a spring in her step, having experienced a complete and total victory beyond anything she could have possibly dreamed. The fun isn't over though, as Bird is let out by the giant bailiff and spots Omar, who is happily waggling his horrible tie at him. Furious, Bird screams that he'll mutilate and kill Omar if he gets his hands on him, while Omar just chuckles and then calls back to him to think on it while he's in prison, to think about Brandon. Bird is hauled away and McNulty asks Omar if he REALLY saw Bird kill Gant, and Omar asks in turn if McNulty is REALLY asking that question.   This is Bird's final ever appearance on the show, and a wonderfully cathartic moment. In prison, D'Angelo is taking part in a book club in the prison library, where they are discussing The Great Gatsby. The prisoner discussing the book is incredulous over everything that Gatsby did for Daisy, who "wasn't nothing past any other bitch anyway". The social worker asks what they think about the notion that there are no second acts in American life, and one of the prisoners laughs that they best not believe that since they're all locked up. D'Angelo has a different idea though, his take is that everything you are, everything you've done, your whole past sticks with you and can't be ignored or dismissed. As he talks about how he feels about the book, it's clear he is talking about himself - once upon a time he thought he could just get up and go, that he could leave everything behind and everything would just be magically better. But you can't change who you are if you don't face up to who you were and what you've done, and that's what cost Gatsby - he made up a whole new life for himself but the only thing that makes you different is what you do and what you go for. He brings up the books in Gatsby's library, none of which had been read, the pages inside unturned. Because for Gatsby everything was about appearance, he wanted to be somebody different but he made no effort to actually be different outside of the exterior trappings. He wasn't prepared to make his new story real, and so his old story caught up with him. Shrugging, he says that's what he thinks anyway, and sits back, maybe a little embarrassed about sharing so much. He's talking about himself, but his take relates to others as well, as we'll see at the end of season 3. In the Detail Office, Beadie sleeps at her desk, Freamon stares blankly at the screen and Bunk sits bored tossing a tennis ball (Fuzzy Dunlop?) to-and-fro till it bounces off of Freamon's head. Bunk sits chastised for a moment, then apologises to Freamon who hasn't reacted in the slightest. McNulty sits staring at the photo of his Jane Doe's family down at the Marine Unit Craft. Diggins arrives and asks if the trial is over, and tells him it's time to get back to work. McNulty disagrees, he has one more thing to take care of but tomorrow he'll be back, there's just some unfinished business. Diggins tells him THIS is his business now and McNulty retorts it's not business, it's retirement, and from tomorrow he'll be retired. Looking slightly shamefaced after realizing he's just offended Diggins, who sails off with a grumpy expression, and then heads on his way. Sergei and a companion (played by pro-wrestler Vladimir Kozlov) take Nick to see Cheese's boss, warning him not to speak until given the go-ahead. Inside John's Radio and Television corner repair store, "John" turns out to be Proposition Joe, who Sergei obviously knows well and likes. He and Joe hug and Sergei tells him he's losing weight, and Joe asks how his family are. Joe wants to talk some business but Sergei says they have to deal with the other first, and Joe realizes that Nick is the man with the "raggedy-rear end Camaro". Nick speaks up, saying it was his cousin's and it wasn't that raggedy, then notices Sergei's disapproving face and hangs his head, chastened for pulling a Ziggy and speaking up when he should have kept his mouth shut. Sergei apologizes, explains that Nick is with them but his cousin.... family can't be helped. Joe commiserates, he's "living life with some burdensome niggas", joking about his nephews and in-laws loving up his poo poo all the time, but he can't pop a cap in their rear end without hearing about it at thanksgiving. Nick laughs, enjoying Joe's banter, and with the time right he sits down to explain his problem - he wants Ziggy to pay what he owes, but Cheese doubled it AND burnt the camaro, which is worth $5100. Joe is surprised, Nick is actually coming to Joe's place of business having hosed up a package, wanting Cheese - who he hosed up the package for - to pay HIM $2400. He turns to Sergei, all humor gone, and asks Sergei just how good a friend this motherfucker is, anyway. Sergei shrugs as if it to say,"What can you do?" and Joe peels off $2400 handed to him by an underling, handing it to over to Nick, warning him and Ziggy to stay away from Cheese who will NOT be happy at now having to repay this money to Joe. Sergei motions to Nick to leave, but he pulls another Ziggy by speaking up once again, trying to be polite and thanking Joe for being straight with him. Joe calls him back, the garrolous, happy fat man all gone now as he makes something VERY clear - if it wasn't for Sergei acting on their behalf, both Nick and Ziggy would be "cadaverous motherfuckers" right now.    Speaking of cadavers, McNulty is at the morgue with Dr. Frazier to take one last look at the Jane Doe he fished out of the water. He claims he did everything he could and Frazier tells him it is time to let go, and McNulty agrees. Frazier instructs his assistant to have her sent to the anatomy board tomorrow under the name Jane Doe, and the body is put back into the locker. McNulty says it isn't right and Frazier agrees it isn't, it never is. Thus ends McNulty's quest to find a name for his missing Jane Doe, and at the risk of sounding mean-spirited I have to question the timing. He got on this trail when he was upset about his separation from his wife, and now she's agreed to let him take her out to a movie and he thinks there is a chance of putting the family back together he decides it is time to give up on her? Is it realism on his part or just convenience? Family is on Brianna's mind, she visiting D'Angelo in prison to talk to him about Avon's plans to get years off of D'Angelo's sentence, having set up a meeting between Levy and prison officials. She can't understand D'Angelo's indifference though, and begs him to speak up and tell her what he is thinking. In reply he snaps about Avon being behind the hot-shots (which gets the notice of a prisoner named Mugs in the next booth over. D reminds her of a story from his childhood, of a time when he was 6 or 7 and "the twins" started beating him up on the porch. He begged her to open the door and let her inside, but she just stood there and wouldn't let him out, telling him to go out there and fight them whether he lost or not. She remembers, including D'Angelo getting the poo poo beaten out of him, and he says that afterwards she told him she brought him into this life but he had to live in it. So he's taken the years, and he'll serve them, and he wants to face things on his own terms. So she can tell everybody - Avon, Stringer, even Donette - to leave him be, he's going to handle things his own way. This is D'Angelo's decision to not be like the Great Gatsby, he's going to actually change up who he is instead of just saying it - that means no more protection from Avon, no more having him always in the background as a safety net - he's going to be his own man. He gets up and leaves, and is followed through back into the prison by Mugs.   Freamon is getting a little revenge on Bunk, bouncing the tennis ball off of the wall and deliberately hitting Bunk each time till he's had enough. Beadie wants to continue, they're almost through 2002's records, but Bunk wants to get drunk, and heads on out the door, Freamon making sure to get him one last time with the ball on the way out. At Delores', Frank shows up in a good mood and offers to buy a round of drinks for everybody at the bar. They settle down and tell war stories, a story about how a stevedore named Benny got a harelip. As they laugh at Horseface's impersonation of Benny's speech, Nick settles down beside Ziggy and carefully hands over the $2400 he got from Joe. Ziggy is confused and infuriatingly ungrateful, he's just had his life saved AND made money off of the deal but when he finds out the cash is to recompense for Princess' destruction he complains that she was worth more than that. Proving once again that he doesn't understand what makes Frank Frank, Ziggy pulls out $100 and offers to buy a round for the bar as well. Frank glares at his son while Nick hisses at him, wanting to know what's wrong with him, and the completely context-blind Ziggy protests that when he's flush, he's flush! Nick leaves in disgust as Ziggy lights a cigarette with a $100 bill and Frank can't stand to be around any longer either, leaving as well over the protests of everybody at the bar. Ott offers to pay for a round as well, doing his bit even though of the three he's the only one without illegally acquired money. Brianna doesn't understand her son, and neither does Frank. Freamon and Beadie have picked up on a pattern, they've found 22 instances of lost cans on the Talco Line with Horseface working the ship. Beadie asks if he wants to call Bunk, but after checking his watch, Freamon laughs that Detective Moreland is currently indisposed. He is, drunk as hell with Jimmy down by the harbor, explaining that he's not working on Daniels' detail, he's been orphaned, with Rawls making it clear that if he doesn't return with 14 clearances then he won't return at all. Pulling out his gun, alarming McNulty, Bunk aims it at one of the beer bottles on the hood of the car, takes careful aim and then... makes a shooting noise and imitates the kick of the shot, not so drunk that he's dumb enough to fire shots from his department issued revolver, you have to explain every bullet you fire, it's not like in the movies! Bunk asks what's up with McNulty and the answer is a genuine,"Nothing!" - McNulty has nothing to do and nowhere to go, admitting that he had no idea why he was really hunting for the identity of the Jane Doe he fished out of the water, maybe he was trying to convince himself he was still murder police. He tears the photo up and then further establishes (for me) my earlier point, when he announces that he and Elena are trying to get back together (this would be news to Elena, then). Bunk comes close to collapsing and McNulty suggests they head home, ready to start his new life in "retirement". I absolutely adore this next scene, it's one of my favorites and marked the turning point for me on Ziggy as a character. I think it's a nice partner to the Brianna/D'Angelo scene from a little earlier, and for the first time gives you an insight into what makes Ziggy the way he is. Up to this point, Ziggy has been a frustratingly stupid character who blunders his way into mess after mess and has no gratitude for the great lengths his cousin goes to in order to bail him out. There have been flashes of intelligence and talent, but he just can't shut his loving mouth and has no sense of the danger he puts himself and others into. Now as he leaves the bar, he's met by Frank who has been waiting for him to leave, wanting to have a proper talk to his son in private, not air their grievances in public. He notices the bruises on Ziggy's face and clearly doesn't believe his explanation of,"I fell down," but doesn't push it, but does insist they go for a walk together. They head down the pier, Ziggy smoking and nervous, Frank working up to getting personal by talking about his plans to clear the grain pier and get everybody more work - that's Frank's passion, but it isn't one that Ziggy shares. Finally Frank gets to the point - what the gently caress is Ziggy about? Is that his son lighting cigarettes with a $100 bill like an rear end in a top hat in a bar full of working stiffs. Ziggy says he was just trying to make people smile, and Frank wants to know where he got the money? He sure as hell hasn't been getting the hours to earn them. Ziggy agrees, nicely diverting the conversation to his lack of hours despite Frank's position in the Union. Frank reminds him that seniority is the rule and nobody can change that, it's the only way to keep it honest, and then blurts out that he wishes he COULD use his position to get Ziggy more hours, admitting that sometimes he thinks he should have listened to his wife and let Ziggy go to Community College like their other son (till this point he has gone unmentioned) did. Ziggy quickly cuts off Frank's confession, saying he isn't complaining, he understands and he doesn't mind, and asks Frank if he wants to know what Ziggy remembers. What he remembers is Frank and his uncles, sitting around arguing about work gangs, about who was the best, who was the fastest, who was lazy etc. Frank is amused, quipping that four Polacks will have six opinions, and Ziggy keeps going, revealing that he has grown up absolutely fascinated with the docks in much the same way Frank is - he knows all the history that he sometimes jokes about the other stevedores talking about, it's all of immense value to him... all more importantly, it's off immense value to Frank and that makes it of immense value to Ziggy. All he has wanted his whole life is to be his father, and the great tragedy is that he sees all this stuff, he remembers all of it.... but he doesn't understand it. He is context-blind, he sees his father buy a round of drinks so he does the same thing, forgetting that Frank has forged close friendships and as an "adult" is understood to just be doing a nice thing (like Ott tried to do as well), whereas when Ziggy does it, it looks like a brash young punk mocking his elders. Ziggy sees Frank working with The Greek and mistakes Frank's connivance with a desire to commit crime to make money, so he tries to forge business relations with them as well. Ziggy is an alien in his own home and culture, and that's deeply depressing, there is nothing sadder than somebody trapped in a place he desperately wants to be accepted and yet never will. But it's worked in patching things up with his father this time at least (Ziggy suggests that Frank has physically beaten him in the past, something that Frank clearly deeply regrets), who laughs that they shouldn't be freezing their asses off with the wharf-rats and suggests they head home. Off they go, together, Sobotka and son.    The next day, Beadie, Bunk and Freamon show Daniels the tags on the folders showing all the missing cans, color-coded to show those that are unexplained, those that look like genuine mistakes and those that fit the pattern of deliberate losses, all of them on the same line worked by the same person - Horseface. Bunk tries to explain how things went with Horseface at the Grand Jury but has to stop as he almost throws up, hungover and nauseous for the previous night's heavy drinking. Daniels, disgusted but tolerant, gives him the waste paper basket to use and asks if he wants to use the toilet, but a sweating Bunk insists he can go on. However, as Freamon lays out the efficiency of the system of getting the cans off of the docks leaving only a small computer record behind, Daniels is constantly distracted by Bunk attempting to hold down his breakfast. The shame of it is that what Freamon has uncovered indicates heavily that Sobotka really is complicit in the 14 murders Bunk and Freamon are investigating, and a sweaty Bunk is really not in the best position when he asks Daniels if they can fold the two cases together. Daniels is having none of it, if his Sobotka detail ends up with 14 unsolved murders attached, then it wrecks his chances of putting together a permanent Major Cases Squad even if they successfully bring down Frank Sobotka. Freamon and Bunk look horrified to hear that politicking is getting in the way of their case (and their own clearances), and Freamon tells Daniels that the bosses wouldn't blame him for not solving it. But Daniels notes it would take all the shine off, and he needs that Major Case Squad - though he doesn't say it, the truth is he's made a massive personal sacrifice and damaged his relationship with his wife to head up this Detail, and that's not going to be for nothing. D'Angelo passes Avon in a prison corridor but ignores Avon's attempt to talk. Avon stops and yells and D'Angelo turns and looks back, and the camera pulls slowly away from Avon as his face undergoes a stunning change, seeing something different and final in D'Angelo's look. A small smile crosses D's lips and then he continues on his way, leaving Avon behind him.   McNulty has his dinner with Elena, who is surprised to see he is just drinking wine. He tells her he isn't doing much of that anymore (he was just drinking last night with Bunk! Though to be fair he went home before he went blotto) so she suggests he can gently caress the waitress, and he admits he deserves that but he isn't doing much of that either (well technically last time he was too drunk to screw Rhonda!), so she asks about his police work. McNulty is amused, reminding her she's asking about everything he does that pisses her off - drinking, screwing around and his police work - and she apologizes, saying she doesn't know why she is bringing it up. He tells her it is understandable, though, and surprises her with the revelation he is "retired", working boats now instead of bodies. This isn't him, she says, but he says not drinking or screwing around wasn't him either but here he is.... and he wants another chance with her. She makes a counter-offer, one more gently caress for the road instead, and the next shot is the McNulty's having some enthusiastic, joyful sex. Unfortunately, only one of them understands what the words,"For the road," really mean. Nick has made good on the debt he owes by stealing truckloads of the chemicals that Spiros requested, as always working with Ziggy and Johnny 50. Eton checks the chemicals and Spiros shakes Nick's hand, Nick once again offering unneeded advice to ditch the trucks after unloading and make it look like a hijack. Spiros carefully makes a suggestion, he can pay Nick straight up in cash what was agreed on.... or Eton can pay him in heroin, wholesale. Eton explains they can sell the drugs for 60-70k, and Ziggy's eyes light up, but Johnny 50 is immediately out, saying that he wants no part of heroin. Ziggy is desperate though, even if they walked the heroin straight up to White Mike and just sold it all to him they could walk away with 30-35k, it's easy money and far more than they'll get as a cash payment. Nick considers and comes to a compromise, he wants half the fee in cash and the other half in heroin - that way they can pay Johnny 50 off and still pull in an extra 30k if they sell it all themselves. They leave, Ziggy excitedly talking about how he'll handle things, but Nick shuts him down immediately - Ziggy will NOT handle this, Nick will do it himself and he'll brook no disagreement on that, snapping at Ziggy to stay at home and watch cartoons, it's what he's good at. Ziggy is left gaping and offended, but Nick has had enough of Ziggy's pouting and asks him if he wants to walk home, and he has no choice but to rush to get into the car and leave with them. In the morning, McNulty is already making himself at home in the old family home, reading the sports section at the dinner table in his underwear. Elena shows up and he asks what they're going to do with the day, and she says she has to go pick up the boys. McNulty, not picking up any of the signals at all, says that's great, and after they get her business sorted out they can head out and do something together later... maybe drop by his place and pick up some things? In his mind they're already back together and everything is a-ok, and she finally has to just be blunt - she doesn't want the boys to know he was here and get their hopes up that they're getting back together, so he has to leave. He stares at her like a kicked puppy-dog as she heads away, utterly perplexed after the events of the night before. Sadly, a single nice night out doesn't patch up all their genuine problems they have, and while some might claim it was a tease for her to sleep with him, she made it pretty clear this was "one for the road" - why shouldn't she get to enjoy a night of good sex, it's not like McNulty hasn't been doing more than his own fair share of it. In the prison library, D'Angelo is showed the torn binding on a book that has just been returned, complaining that some people don't appreciate what they've got. D says he'll take it out back and try to fix it with duct tape, and loads it onto the trolley and heads back, watched all the time by Mugs. He follows D'Angelo in and closes the door behind him, asking if he is D, telling him that he's looking for Final Calls. D'Angelo tells him he can't be here but there did get some Final Calls, so if he gives him a minute he'll come out and find them for him. As he continues working away in blissful ignorance, Mugs wraps the ends of a belt around his hands and strikes, choking a shocked D'Angelo who struggles for leverage to get the larger man off of him. Mugs' face is disturbingly professional, his frown is one of exertion, there is no malice or hatred in what he is doing. Pulling back hard as despair/realization fills D'Angelo's eyes, Mugs chokes the life from him and then with quick, horrifying skill poses the body to make it look like a suicide. Tying one end of the belt around the doorknob, he tucks D's hands into his pockets and crosses his legs, then squeezes through the door and closes it behind him, careful to ensure D'Angelo's head lolls naturally to one side. Putting on a cheery smile, Mugs accuses another prisoner of holding out on his cigs and heads down the corridor joking with the confused stranger. With the door closed, D'Angelo's head rolls over and he's left sitting, looking almost peaceful. But this isn't the new life that D'Angelo had in mind, even though all his actions throughout the episode in retrospect will now make it look to friends and family that he was contemplating suicide. Like Gatsby he has been killed due to a misunderstanding, a victim of a culture he wasn't a natural part of. Now Tyrell will never know is father, he'll never get a chance to be free and happy from the suffocating influence of his family. He'll never breathe.  D'Angelo Barksdale is dead. Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 22:26 on May 1, 2013 |
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Jerusalem posted:So it seems you're a teacher/some kind of educator, and I'd be fascinated to hear what you felt about season 4 and their take on education if you wouldn't mind. I know Ed Burns had actual experience working as a schoolteacher, but how accurate (or not) was the whole thing to you, and even where it wasn't, did it still ring true? Yeah, it definitely rang true. It's been years since I've seen it, so sorry if I'm a little short on details, but the part where they took the troubled kids and put them in their own little group away from everyone else was spot on. A lot of special programs, or even special schools, are designed as a place to dump kids who, because they have behavior or learning issues, negatively impact test scores or are disruptive in class. These kids pulled out of class and are sent to "tutors," or they are diverted into special schools, so they don't pull down the metrics. For example, in my experience: --  At one point, I was hired as a reading tutor, paid for by a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. Did you know that when they're deciding how big to build a new prison, one of the factors they look at is 3rd grade literacy levels in the area? I was supposed to take underperforming kids out of class and bring them up to speed. I'm talking about teaching vowel sounds to kids in the 3rd grade. During training, we were told repeatedly, only work on literacy - teach nothing else. Within 2 weeks of starting, I was told by the principal to ditch that literacy stuff, and was given test preparation books. I was hired as a literacy tutor, to give these kids the foundation for long-term learning, but the school was using us as test prep coaches, exactly the opposite of what the grant was supposed to be for. This was, of course, just the school's administration just trying to get their stats up. The school was literally scamming money from the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation to juke their stats.-- I gave the state tests to my special ed. kids, away from everyone else. It was highly suggested to me to give them the answers. For example, when reading the questions out loud (doing this because they were sp.ed.), emphasize the correct answer. So yeah, the 4th season, with idealistic newbie teachers being ground down by a toxic and cynical environment, people protecting their salaries by juking the stats, kids who can't be expected to learn because they're dealing with horrendous home/neighborhood lives, yeah. Money comes from good scores on state tests. Period. If test scores go up,the school gets funding, you're a great teacher/admin and get promoted. How they go up, if they actually are measuring anything...nobody cares. How can you fight that? Dealing with students takes time away from test prep, so it doesn't get done, which makes things worse. I sure as hell would be distracted at work if I found out my mom was sleeping with my live-in boyfriend...now imagine dealing with that when you're 13. Sharkie fucked around with this message at 13:29 on May 1, 2013 |
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May 1, 2013 13:27
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Jesus, that sounds soul-destroying, and the worst part is that it's still going on today unchecked, despite all the exposes on this kind of poo poo... which the teachers are usually blamed for anyway. I mean, it's still a common thing for people to say,"What are teachers complaining about, they get all those weeks off work every year!"
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May 1, 2013 13:50
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Jerusalem posted:Writeup Nice work, Jerusalem! I actually watched this one last night as well, and found one nice little detail, which you hinted at. D'Angelo's comments about the Great Gatsby, in not being able to leave behind 'who you were,' specifically his comment about owning books that haven't been read or even opened is a bit of neat foreshadowing to the array of books and the Samurai sword found in Stringer's apartment by McNulty in Season 3.
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May 1, 2013 14:08
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Cervixalot posted:the Samurai sword found in Stringer's apartment by McNulty in Season 3. In another world, in another life, Stringer would've been one of us.
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May 1, 2013 15:36
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Jerusalem posted:Jesus, that sounds soul-destroying, and the worst part is that it's still going on today unchecked, despite all the exposes on this kind of poo poo... which the teachers are usually blamed for anyway. And if you're a professional con artist like Michelle Rhee, you just wind up making even more money after you're fired for getting caught juking the stats.
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May 1, 2013 17:01
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Jerusalem posted:
Good stuff. When I first watched this season I thought they sort of glossed over Dee's death unceremoniously considering how important he was to season 1, but it's not really till later that you realize Dee's death is one of the most important moments in the series. It sets the tone for the Avon/Stringer relationship from there out, and contributes to their respective downfalls.
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May 1, 2013 20:09
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Not to mention exposing McNulty's true character as a murder police. S1 has him considerably rebellious and self-destructive but still with his heart in the right place. He's sympathetic. But after the scene with Brianna, he's just another smart rear end in a top hat cop who's no less a subject of the system than anyone else. Take him out of that system, or mitigate his exposure to it, and he's a real human again.
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May 1, 2013 20:28
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isk posted:Not to mention exposing McNulty's true character as a murder police. S1 has him considerably rebellious and self-destructive but still with his heart in the right place. He's sympathetic. But after the scene with Brianna, he's just another smart rear end in a top hat cop who's no less a subject of the system than anyone else. Take him out of that system, or mitigate his exposure to it, and he's a real human again. I whole-heatedly disagree that McNulty did anything wrong when Brianna confronted him about D's death. He was the only person who told her what she needed to hear. Why is she getting sympathy? When her greed contributed to her son's death?
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May 1, 2013 20:40
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D could not have actually snitched again from prison right? I mean at that point he was completely removed from the organization and anything he offered could have been easily dismissed as hearsay from a guy desperate to cut years off by Levy. It just strikes me as odd that Stringer (and eventually Avon, though he doesn't totally forgive Stringer for it) just assume that D could have flipped again. It reminds me of how later this season, Frank and Nick assume that Vondas can free Ziggy from jail, not knowing Ziggy already signed a confession.
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May 1, 2013 20:44
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escape artist posted:I whole-heatedly disagree that McNulty did anything wrong when Brianna confronted him about D's death. He was the only person who told her what she needed to hear. Why is she getting sympathy? When her greed contributed to her son's death? At that point too, McNulty actually tells her that nobody but him gives a poo poo that D was murdered and that he actually regrets bringing the whole thing up (probably because it was a waste of time to his investigation but whatever). If anything he was easy on her, he only lays the smack down when she asks him why he went to Donette first. I wonder how he'd react if he knew that giving Brianna that info helped lead directly to Stringer's death and the collapse of the Barksdales. Knowing him he'd probably just be more pissed off at himself, since it cost him his chance at arresting Stringer. grading essays nude fucked around with this message at 20:50 on May 1, 2013 |
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May 1, 2013 20:47
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Some really great moments from this episode. Great write up One question I have always had being a Scot some of the lingo goes over my head. What does go-go mean in the stringer conversation, the general music scene, a specific band a type of music??? Also the whole McNulty in the morning thing was just heart crushing, dude finally thought it was all going good. If she would have just taken him back Season 5 would have been different.
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May 1, 2013 20:50
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cletepurcel posted:D could not have actually snitched again from prison right? I mean at that point he was completely removed from the organization and anything he offered could have been easily dismissed as hearsay from a guy desperate to cut years off by Levy. It just strikes me as odd that Stringer (and eventually Avon, though he doesn't totally forgive Stringer for it) just assume that D could have flipped again. It reminds me of how later this season, Frank and Nick assume that Vondas can free Ziggy from jail, not knowing Ziggy already signed a confession. That's different. D could have rolled up on Avon. D was in for drugs, Avon was in for conspiracy, but D could have given them murders or even more information about the drugs. Ziggy was hosed. The only thing Ziggy could have possibly done was get reduced time for rolling up on The Greek, which would have surely gotten him killed anyway. ally_1986 posted:Some really great moments from this episode. Great write up It's a specific subgenre of funk. The guy who plays Slim Charles is in a pretty sweet go go band.
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May 1, 2013 21:08
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Go-go is apparently reaaaal popular in the DC area. I think it may be more popular there than hip hop though that's something I heard on another board a long time ago.
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May 1, 2013 21:51
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Frostwerks posted:Go-go is apparently reaaaal popular in the DC area. I think it may be more popular there than hip hop though that's something I heard on another board a long time ago. The DC hitman is a mark of George Pelacanos' presence on the writing staff. He also makes a reference to bamas, which is a weird local term I forget the meaning of. If anyone is interested, they should read his novels, which are very Wire-esque but set in DC (and have a much more optimistic worldview on the whole, which is ironic since he is used here, to devastating effect, to write the saddest episodes of the series.)
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May 1, 2013 22:02
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Cervixalot posted:Nice work, Jerusalem! I actually watched this one last night as well, and found one nice little detail, which you hinted at. Yeah, I just hinted at it because there'll be more to talk about when it actually happens, but I love that scene as a callback to D'Angelo's take on The Great Gatsby. Like Gatsby (and D'Angelo too!), Stringer attempts to leave his old world behind and be embraced into a new one, but (unlike D, who was starting to make an effort) he mistakes the trappings of the culture for the culture itself, and never understands why he isn't accepted beyond a superficial level. D'Angelo puts it really well, you can't just put up a front of being a different person, or your past is going to bite you on the rear end, you have to actually make that change and "get real with it". This kinda relates to Ziggy too, who despite being born into the culture he craves acceptance in so much, he can't ever look beyond the superficial trappings and realize WHY some things are the way they are. Even though he's a "native" he mostly apes the culture of the stevedores - the heavy drinking, the exposure to crime, petty theft etc. He wants to be Frank but doesn't understand who or what Frank really is/why he does what he does.
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May 1, 2013 22:34
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Also wanted to say that Pelecanos' novels are great. Not really high literature, but gripping, quick-reads and you won't be able to tear yourself away.
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May 1, 2013 23:13
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